Chapter 2 Things Got Ugly

• “You will marry me.”
• Liam blinked. Once. Twice. His lips parted, but no sound came out.
• Then he laughed.
• It wasn’t amusement. It was a mix of stunned disbelief—the kind that made his jaw clench halfway through. “You’re joking, right?” Marry a psychotic stranger? Not a chance.
• Liam continued. “You think this is funny?” he said. “You barge in here, slap me, insult my business, and now you want to play house?”
• “Wouldn’t it be better if I were your wife instead of your enemy?”
• He scoffed. “You think adding my last name to yours will fix anything?”
• “No. But it will make headlines. And Thomas hates headlines. And you'll be rich, really rich.”
• Liam’s expression twitched at the name.
• Got you, she thought.
• “You said it yourself,” she pressed. “Your company’s dying. Thomas left you for the wolves. So why not return the favour? Betray him. Hurt him where it matters. That’s what I’m doing.”
• He stared at her like she’d just unzipped her skin and revealed a different species underneath.
• “This isn’t some rom-com plot, Izzy.”
• “No, it's not. So a marriage contract, yes?”
• He signed the absurd contract anyway.
• He didn’t say why. Maybe it was the way her stare didn't flinch. Or maybe it was the offer of control in a world where he'd already lost too much.
• Maybe it was just the thrill of spitting in his father’s face.
• He wanted to watch Thomas pay for his sins, too.
• Whatever the reason, the pen hit the page.
• And the future changed.
• However, the door flew open. And a brunette woman filled with plastic walked in like she was being chased by dogs.
• “I knew it!” her sickly sweet voice filled the air. Liam recognised her almost instantly. It was Sera, dressed in all the unholy iniquity that a woman could call a dress.
• Liam’s ex-fiancée walked in like a storm. Her voice was shrill enough to scrape paint off the walls.
• Izzy turned slowly.
• Sera was all curves, claws, and crocodile tears. The kind of woman who cried for attention and bit back when ignored.
• She narrowed her eyes at Liam, then at Izzy.
• “What the hell is going on?”
• “Sera, not now,” Liam muttered.
• “Oh, no, now is perfect,” she snapped. “Because I knew something was off the second I saw your name trending next to a mystery investor. I thought it was a man. But no—it’s this Botox blondie?!”
• Izzy tilted her head slightly, smiling without warmth. “That’s brave for a plastic waste like you.”
• Sera ignored the warning. “Are you sleeping with her? Is that it? Is that why you dumped me through your lawyer? Oh, I'm going to tell everyone about this! Whoever you are, miss, your face will be ruined soon. I'll tear you apart; I'll call my daddy—”
• Izzy sighed and took a few slow steps forward, heels tapping like a countdown.
• Liam tensed. “Izzy—don’t—”
• She pulled something from her coat pocket. Long, slim. Matte black.
• A gun. Fitted with a silencer.
• Sera froze. “Wait… she even carries a gun?! I'm sure that's fake! You devilish stupid whore trying to act like you're tough, huh?!”
• But Izzy was already moving. She walked up to her like a queen on a chessboard. Calm and precise.
• Sera backed up until her back hit the glass wall, palms raised. “Get away from me, you little shit!”
• There was a sound. A sharp crack.
• Then a sharp scream that'll break glass. Sera fell limp.
• Liam was across the room in seconds. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?”
• Sera was on the ground. Blood trickled from a wound near her hairline. Unconscious. Breathing, but barely.
• Izzy stood over her, gun holstered, looking mildly inconvenienced. “She talks too much.”
• Liam stared at her like she’d turned into a monster. “You cracked her skull.”
• “She’ll live. Probably,” Izzy said simply. “Unless you let her bleed out. I’d suggest moving fast.”
• She bent down, nudged Sera’s body with her heel, and kicked it lightly to the side like garbage that needed sweeping.
• Then she looked up at him, one brow raised.
• “Well? Don’t just stand there like a gnome,” she smirked.
• “Clean up the body. That’s your first training, my little puppy.” she blew him a kiss.
• Liam stood there stunned.
• Izzy turned and walked away, heels echoing through the silence.
• Behind her, Sera groaned softly.
• And Liam immediately realised two things:
• First, she wasn’t joking.
• And this woman—this wife—was going to ruin him.
• “I want to know everything about her.”